Straight Talk, That's For Sure

Arizona Sen. John McCain refused to apologize yesterday for his use of a racial slur to condemn the North Vietnamese prison guards who tortured and held him captive during the war.

``I hate the gooks,'' McCain said yesterday in response to a question from reporters aboard his campaign bus. ``I will hate them as long as I live.''

. . .

``I was referring to my prison guards,'' McCain said, ``and I will continue to refer to them in language that might offend some people because of the beating and torture of my friends.''

McCain made it clear that his anger extends only toward his captors. As a senator, he was one of the leaders of the postwar effort to normalize U.S. relations with Vietnam.

Say what you will about the man, but Mac's as honest as they come. As for what he said, I really don't care. He can use whatever language he pleases when referring to the bastards -- yes, the bastards -- who beat him, starved him, and left him to rot in solitary confinement for two or three years. They broke his bones and his teeth in torture sessions which would last for days on end. By the time McCain emerged from the Hanoi Hilton, he had white air. The man was only thirty-three.

If he has a bit of pent up anger, well, that's understandable.

Please Riot Here

Tell kids one thing, and they'll do the opposite. Definitely not going anywhere near Fenway, nope. Whistle . . .

Over the past few years, New England has been quite fortunate to have the Patriots as a regular participant in post-season contests. Unfortunately, at times some of the celebrating and disappointment has turned unruly, resulting in property damage, disturbance of the peace, arrests, personal injuries and even the loss of life.

With the Patriots and Giants scheduled to play in this coming Sunday’s Super Bowl, the College encourages you to root for your team, but asks that your behavior remains responsible, lawful and respectful of others and their property regardless of the outcome.

Boston Police Captain Evans recently sent a letter to all area colleges and universities. His letter states in pertinent part, “the BPD will be out in force in the Kenmore Square and Hemenway Street areas to prevent any disorderly conduct after the game. The areas surrounding Fenway Park will be closed during and after the game and many adjacent streets will be closed as well. Please do all you can to discourage your students from coming to these areas. Arrests will be made and acts of violence or vandalism will not be tolerated.”

Like Flies

First Giuliani, now Edwards. Can't say I'm too torn-up over either exit.

Pure Hatred

The conservative establishment is really, really, really unready to get on board with McCain. Witness the bitter -- and slightly deranged -- rantings of Michael Graham, a right-wing radioman from Boston . . .
Every day, [McCain] dreams of a world filled with happy Democrats and insulted Republicans. And he is, thanks to Florida, the presidential nominee of the Republican party.

Sure he does. The senator has a lifelong score of 80.something from the American Conservative Union, but whatever. I'm sure he wakes up everyday just looking to crush Republican hopes. Christ, these people are lunatics. It's almost as if they've been in asleep for the last eight years.

The "Stimulus" Scam

But that seems unlikely to me. Keynesian theories about why output might increase usually rely on imperfections in markets or information. Producers get fooled into increasing their output for a while, before the errors are worked out and output falls back to its long-term level.

But that wouldn’t seem to be the case here. Let’s say the rebate checks get mailed out in May and June. A U.S. cigarette producer may notice a slight uptick in sales in those months as smokers spend their government checks. But cigarette producers probably watch the news and they will know that this is just a temporary blip. As such, they won’t add any new workers or buy any new machines.

So output would stay pretty fixed, while prices would adjust upward slightly to clear markets. But I don’t claim to be a Keynesian expert, so if one of our Keynesian readers wants to tell me where I’m wrong, I’d be happy to hear it. Until then, I remain convinced that the Bush/Pelosi scheme is crack-pot. --Chris Edwards

The Obama Temptation

I'm not the only right-of-center joe with a soft-spot for the fiery senator from Illinois.

As a libertarian-minded conservative, I agree with almost nothing of Barack Obama's actual policy positions. Whether it is with education, health care, or fiscal matters, Obama is a liberal in the truest sense of the word. He fails to respect federalism and his policies can often border on socialism. Indeed, I have trouble identifying any policy positions of Obama's that appeal to me. In short, I think Barack Obama would make a terrible Head of Government.

Yet, as David Kopel has deftly noted, the Head of State is an entirely different role altogether, and regardless of your ideological perspective, there is something tremendously appealing about Obama. Indeed, several of his recent speeches - his Iowa victory, a speech on MLK Jr. Day, and the South Carolina victory - have given me goosebumps and caused me to swell with pride at being an American. --Josh Claybourn

In the end, I doubt my vote will go his way, but if he's elected I probably won't be tearing my hair out. (Hillary, on the other hand . . .)

The Old Bipartishanship Ruse

"We need ... leaders who look out at America and see not an electorate to be sliced and diced and pitted against each other, but citizens who want to do great things together." --John Kerry, endorsing Sen. Obama

All those "great things" are, to be sure, finely pictured in the platform of the Democratic Party.

That's what bugs me about the appeal to bipartisanship: it's too often unrepresentative of the speaker's true agenda. Furthermore, it's usually presumptuous and condescending. No two people see the world the same way, there are real conflicts of opinion out there -- and that's alright. It's annoying to have some Washington suit not only belittle but flat-out dismiss legitimate differences just to sound enlightened, particularly when you know that said talking-head actually wants nothing to do with the other side's vision (which is, duh, entirely contrived to begin with).

For the record, I do believe there are national goals that can and should be pursued by the two parties working hand in hand to some degree. Similarly, there are certain issues that are best considered in a non-partisan light. A large plurality of Americans are not of (or for?) either political cult, and even many card-carriers are moderates who could sit with relative comfort on either side of the aisle. This reality means that a rigid red state/blue state, us vs. them mentality is not just unproductive, but unrealistic. It'd be nice for the hacks and die-hards to see this, and quit doggedly forcing every last detail of their philosophy on the rest of the nation.

However, some fights must be fought. In fact, a lot of fights must be fought. Because there aren't enough room for too many Big Ideas, not in the end. And this is common knowledge and common sense, which is why 75% of bipartisan talk is calculated nonsense that we can do without.

The (Social) Democratic Party

Hillary Clinton is a "centrist democrat", "a pragmatist on the economy." So says Alan Dershowitz, writing in The New Republic today.

Huh. Well, accepting the legitimacy of that description, then relentless advocacy of universal healthcare now qualifies as a middle-of-the-road phenomenon. How depressing.

Hacktivists (For Real This Time)

A group of hackers issues a declaration of war against the Church of Scientology. You know who to root for.

It's . . . Alive?

Is it just me, or has The 1880 just gotten a make-over? No new posts, though. Too bad, it was one of the better publications started last year. And there were so many of them, right? Em Magazine, The 1880, EmCon (RIP), Urban Pirate . . .

I'd like to see it revived. If any of its people are reading this, do the right thing and get back to the snoop-and-gossip beat.